Small Orange Apothecia

[chrisjohnson]

It wasn't until I looked at my images of Anaptychia ciliaria that I noticed these tiny orange apothecia, not visible to the naked eye (well, not mine!).

Has anyone any idea of their identity? They were on granite on the tideline.

Thanks, Chris

[JennyS]

Hi Chris,

Your aps look Caloplaca-ish but are you sure your Anaptychia isn't A. runcinata as there don't seem to be any marginal cilia?

[chrisjohnson]

Hi Jenny

I thought it was A. runcinata when I photographed it but when I did the microscopy the spores were 40-49 x 21-25µm. I didn't look for marginal cilia at the time (being unaware) but will look next time I'm in the area.

Chris

[chrisjohnson]

Hi Jenny

Took a long look at my photographs and specimens today and it can only be A. runcinata: the habit is correct and there are no obvious cilia. Can't explain the spore-sizes though (which are correct with many measurements taken).



Only Dobson gives sizes which seem to be replicated in Paul Whelan's book. Do you know of any other sources?

Chris

[JennyS]

Hi Chris - great image of the apothecia section.

At the moment I'm finding it doesn't necessarily get any easier to come up with a definite ID based on spore sizes too!
I usually check Dobson's sizes against those given in Smith et. al. as there can be a bit of variation and most probably those are the sources Paul would have used for spore sizes given in his book.

I sliced a Pyrenula last night and the smaller spores were too small for option A, the larger spores too big for option B

Ah, just realised that Dobson gives specific spore sizes for A. runcinata and A. ciliaria but in The Lichen Flora of GB&I (Smith et al) there is just a general size of 30-50 x 18-24 given in the Anaptychia intro bit.........

[chrisjohnson]

Originally Posted by JennyS

Ah, just realised that Dobson gives specific spore sizes for A. runcinata and A. ciliaria but in The Lichen Flora of GB&I (Smith et al) there is just a general size of 30-50 x 18-24 given in the Anaptychia intro bit.........

Quite ... sums up my dilemma. I've got used to accepting a degree of tolerance in spore sizes but Dobson has no overlap between the two species.

Chris

[JennyS]

Took a long look at my photographs and specimens today and it can only be A. runcinata: the habit is correct and there are no obvious cilia.

I've got used to accepting a degree of tolerance in spore sizes but Dobson has no overlap between the two species

I've not seen Anaptychia ciliaria myself but marginal cilia definitely seem to be required - and you need someone with much more experience than me for spore size questions as I'm a microscope newbie!

( Alan ........'elp!)

[AlanS]

Dobson's dimensions for the spores of Anaptychia appear to be highly misleading. I would guess that either there is a mistake or the measurements were based on insufficient material. (And how very odd that Paul Whelan's book gives exactly the same dimensions ...)

Moburg, in Volume 2 of the Nordic Lichen Flora gives pretty much the same range for both species, but with A. runcinata having the greater range of variation at the high end. And Moburg most likely DID check the spore measurements of a range of material himself!

Chris's measurements fall easily into A. runcinata, longest would be a bit too large for A. ciliaris.

In any case, no way is this A. ciliaris; it is very typical A. runcinata as Jenny first politely suggested (but knew very well).

As for the orange apothecia, yes, Caloplaca, and some microscope work needed. I would suggest one of C. crenularia (most likely?), C. ceracea (usually in more sheltered situations, thick algal layer beneath the apothecium in section, but should be more pruinose than suggested in the photo), C. arenaria (suggested by the immersed thallus but would have to be confirmed on ascospore characters). My instant reaction to the photo was arenaria, but a rather bright coloured crenularia is statistically more likely.

(I plan to take some photomicrographs of the spores of both species and put them up on my site ... in the fullness of time ...)

Alan

[chrisjohnson]

Thanks once again Alan.

The orange Caloplaca will have to wait for another time as I'm not likely to revisit that spot in the near future and I am currently working on some Corticioids.

Chris